Friday, July 13, 2012

Sticker WIN!

I was going to let the poll run one more day, but I think the results are pretty clear.  We have some winners!!! :D




These are the two stickers I will be getting made! Pre-orders are on sale as of now!

These will be 5" X 6" vinyl die-cut stickers from StickerMule.com. They’re made from an industrial strength vinyl that’s designed to last. And, they come with a UV laminate that makes them fade, scratch and water resistant.  Completely suitable for outdoor use!  These will be great for your laptop, your vehicle, your tower/case, on a note or sketchbook....anywhere you want to put them!

Since I am only asking $6 a sticker I am only accepting PayPal for these.  Once I have enough pre-orders to cover the cost of making them I will get them ordered, then on their way to you!   Order several and I can put them all in the same envelope so you'll save on shipping!  These will be shipped via First Class mail in a protective clear bag with a mat board backing in a shipping envelope.  Shipping rates are $3.00 per shipment (envelope) in the US.  $5.00 to Canada, and $10.00 International. 

Click on the PayPal shopping cart buttons to your left to pre-order! <----------------------------------

I will let everyone know here when I have enough pre-orders and when they stickers are due to arrive here and go out to you!

Thanks for helping me create these stickers!  I am sure the final product will be completely awesome :D

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Stickers, Part 2!

Thanks everyone for voting on your favorite version of the sticker designs!  The tally is in and by far at the lead with 176 of the 275 votes is this guy!


Congrats black snarly werewolf with hightlights!
 
In second place is the pink werewolf, which made me laugh, so I have decided to go ahead and do both of them!  Woo hoo!   :D

Now for the second phase of this sticker design, the words!  I've come up with a few so far that might work well and will give you an idea of what I want to do.  Please go ahead and vote for your favorite, or if you have a better idea for the text on either of these please comment and let me know!  (click on the thumbnails for bigger images):


<---------------So please vote for your favorite over on the left side! Once I have the best two designs I will open for pre-orders of these stickers.

Thanks everyone for your help! ^.^

Goldie

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

So...why Blogger?

First off, welcome everyone to my blog!  I'm so glad to see all of you here.  Thanks for following me!  I'm sure this will be fun for everyone ^.^

Secondly, I have posted about this blog on just about all the places where I have accounts online.  Interestingly I seem to be getting a certain sort of response from a few people.  Why Blogger, and why even blog at all?  Why not just post all of this on DA or FA or LiveJournal or Tumblr?

Well as I said over on my other blog, Werewolves and Cupcakes, I am experimenting somewhat, seeing what the "big hairy deal" is about having a blog, and also because I love to write.  I have always felt myself more of a writer than an artist, but a lot of times making art is easier than writing.  I am certainly more disciplined about doing art and even though I desperately want to write I feel like I never have anything to write about.  Having a blog not only gives me an excuse to just -write- for writing's sake, but it also it forces me to be disciplined about it.  If I want to keep my followers I have to put up content, right?

Having a blog also gets me out of my shell and forces me to interact with the world.  It forces me to see not only myself but others as well.  Even if all I am doing is writing about the great sunset I saw, or about the antics of my dog.  It gets me writing, it gets me sharing.

Also, let's face it, blogging is a great marketing tool.  I feel like I can reach a wider audience this way than just with a DA, FA, Epilogue, or any of the other art or social media sites.  Having a general blog is a lot more open and less specific than people having to deal with the BS of some other sites.  I will absolutely still post to those other sites, but I feel a blog that I can post to almost daily is a lot better than a site that is focused mainly on one thing or another. A general blog is focused on writing, and that's the whole point.

As for choosing Blogger, well I started using Blogger to follow other blogs and decided to create my own and put up a few of my older essays just to have an online archive of them.  I quickly fell in love with how easy Blogger is to use, and how easy it is to design my layouts.  Things are clean, uncluttered, easy to use and understand.  I do have a Tumblr account, but truthfully I haven't figured out why it's so popular.  To me it's hard to understand and harder to use.  LiveJournal has been my blog for ten years now, but I avoid it because of some past mistakes and thus past lessons.  I am not comfortable there any more, however I still keep my account and only update information related to my business. 

So Blogger it is :)

I hope you all will enjoy watching me here, and will enjoy what I post.  This particular blog will be about my art and art in general.  I will aim to keep it fun and entertaining and not just another place where I show off my art. 

I also have my other blogs Werewolves and Cupcakes and Circle of Stones.  Werewolves and Cupcakes is more of a personal blog for this and that, but mostly for my weird sense of humor and personal tidbits I feel like sharing.  Circle of Stones is my spirituality blog dedicated to my essays about that which I find sacred in this world and my higher being.  I invite you to follow along...or not :)

I haven't opened up like this in years, so having blogs is a bit of a big step for me.  But I feel like it's time to start writing again.  However this time I will endeavor to post only the positive, the uplifting, and of course the fun.  I hope you will all enjoy the things I have to share :)

Goldie

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Werewolf Stickers!

I've been brainstorming on what interesting things I can bring to my artistic table and I have decided I would like to (re)learn to do vector art and create some interesting graphic-type stuff to sell in addition to prints and t-shirts.

So the first thing I have decided to come up with are a few cut-out sticker designs.  This is the first one, and I need your opinion.  Do you like any of these, and if so which ones?  (Please vote in the poll in the left hand column.)  <----------




If you don't like any of them, do you have any suggestions on what you would like to see with this design?  Different colors and such? I do plan on adding text but that is after I see what appeals here.  I will be asking your opinions on the text to use as well :)  But first, let me know what you think of these!

Thanks!

Goldie


Monday, July 9, 2012

Tigertaur



Drawing commission for Nathan of a tigertaur with a longbow and longsword.  Pencil on 9" X 12" Bristol paper.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

The Price of Art

What determines the price of art? What is art worth? Is it really worth anything? Why should people buy art?

First of all, the major point in all of this is that the price of art is completely subjective, meaning that its value is mainly determined by the person viewing it. The second part of the value of artwork is determined by the cost of materials, and the cost of the artist's time, as well as how in demand their work is. Then there are different price scales for Fine Artists, Graphic Artists, Illustrators, Freelance Artists, Web Designers, etc. All of these factors add up to the price of artwork.

For my purposes, I will discuss Fine Art and Illustration, which is what I am most familiar with.

With fine art, the price tags can run incredibly high. This is where the price is most subjective, because something that is crap to one person is priceless in worth to another. Art speaks to all of us in different ways.

That's all well and good, you may say, but what about those huge canvases that are just splatters of paint that my kid could do that sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars? You can't tell me that that kind of art justifies a price tag like that! Yes I can, because, again, the price of art is mostly subjective. For some people, standing in front of that canvas evokes an emotional reaction, and that is mainly where the value lies with fine art. How does the art hit you? How does it make you feel? Does it make you think? Does it carry you away? What does it say to you? If art makes you think or feel, immediately you are drawn to it, and if your reaction is strong enough you want to possess it, sometimes at all costs. Then you may look at the technique, how this or that was done, the brushstrokes here or the lines there, especially if it is an original work. There is nothing that compares to the power of seeing your favorite piece of art "in the flesh" before you. Here you can marvel at the workmanship and craft of art, and for some, nothing but the original will do (and I cannot blame anyone a bit for that).

Then there is the reputation and notoriety of the artist to factor in. How in demand are they? How does their artwork sell? If the artist has a great reputation, amazing talent, and a lengthy history of being in demand that jacks the price way, way up. And why not? The price of anything is determined by supply and demand. If an artist is highly in demand, but only makes X amount of pieces a year, then the price of X pieces can be incredibly high.

So this also factors into the price of the artist's time. What is their time worth to them along with their talents? What is their time worth to others? If they are in demand, their time is worth a lot.

In the field of illustration it is a bit different. Illustrators can also be highly in demand for their time and talents, but they may not make as much as a fine artist. Then again, there are those who do illustration that crosses over into the fine art arena, such as Michael Whelan and many other "book cover" artists. Most of us may never reach that level of notoriety and demand, however there –is- an industry standard for this kind of work.

If you would like to see the current industry standards for pricing in the fields of Illustration and Graphic Arts, the Graphic Artists Guild puts out their "Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines" every few years with current, up-to-date pricing information that is based on real industry surveys. You can order the handbook here:  http://www.graphicartistsguild.org/handbook/ This will give you a good guideline to refer to in the pricing of your own work.

As for the cost of materials, this should definitely be factored in. We all know how much materials cost us artists, from paints and canvas and markers, to Wacom tablets and expensive software. Sometimes the materials cost can be very low, such as a pencil piece on sketch paper. However, prices for materials can skyrocket if you are buying high-end paints and especially if you are working with precious metals and gems (such as with bronze sculptures and jewelry). These things cost, and sometimes a lot, and you should definitely get your materials cost back in the price tag.

All that said, you can now see how the price of art can be all over the map. If you are unfamiliar with how to price your own work, do some research. How much does similar artwork (in skill and complexity) go for? What are other people charging? What is the industry standard? How in demand are you, and what do you personally feel your time and talents are worth? You'll start to get a picture of where you should start from, and according to your demand adjust your prices from there.

For myself, I have been building up my pricing system slowly over the years. When I first started out, my prices for originals and commissions were pretty low because I wasn't well known and no idea what my art was worth. I would do a 9" X 12" full color piece with a background for less than $100. And I was pounced on continually until, exhausted and unable to complete my commissions in a timely manner, I –had- to raise my prices. As my reputation and demand grew, I steadily raised my prices more and more until the demand for my time and talents balanced out nicely with what I was able to produce in a timely manner. Currently my prices are right where I want them, making it so that I am not overwhelmed with work while making the work satisfying and worth it. People still pay my prices, and I can get their art done in a relatively good time frame without burnout.

For example, I have a -massive- amount of people who would love to commission me, and I don't have a whole lot of time to devote to art for others (or, let's face it, art at all). That's why I am currently doing these "small" commissions (badges, bookmarks, etc). They are far, far more affordable than my normal full-size (9 X 12 and larger) commissions, they take less time to do, I can take several at a time and the price makes it worth my while. This means I don't get burned out, and I can them done in a reasonable amount of time. Plus the commissioner gets a custom original of mine, and one that usually exceeds their expectations, which justifies the cost to them. Thus, everyone wins (even though my prices are far more than the norm for similar sized work).

So you see that, while someone's prices may seem ridiculous to one person, to another they are worth every penny. Just remember that the price of art is subjective, so do some research, and adjust your prices so that your output equals your demand to a comfortable degree. But never, ever sell yourself short. Give yourself some respect, because an artist, you deserve it :)

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my new blog!

In this blog I will be talking about things dealing with being a professional artist, including essays about art and the art world, art news, tips and tricks, and even tutorials now and then.
This blog will serve as my go-to place for all things art related.  I will also be posting new artwork days before I will post it -anywhere- else online, so check back here often!  Or better yet, subscribe to my feed. 


Thanks for visiting!